Apple was granted a patent on Tuesday by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a Near Field Communications (NFC)-enabled travel management application, furthering speculation that the company is readying mobile payment technology for future versions of its iPhone product.

The Web site Macrumors.com reports that Apple was granted a patent for a service, “iTravel” that would make use of NFC technology. The service could also help travelers mitigate some perils of air travel via their smartphone, such as paying for checked luggage, confirming reservations or checking in at the airport by allowing phones to access travelers’ information, including their photograph, fingerprint or retinal scan, to verify identities.

Thirty three percent of U.S. consumers have already made a payment by their mobile phone according to a survey conducted by analytics firm IDC Financial Insights this week. That number is more than double the amount of mobile payment adopters from last year. Additional research from Gartner this week anticipates the mobile payment market will exceed $600 billion globally by 2016, almost four times the $172 billion that was spent this year -- a statistic that likely factors in Apple’s emerging interest in the field.